{"product_id":"book-u64u","title":"Witchland","description":"'No historian before Marion Gibson has managed to convey so well the lived reality of British witch trials at the local level. This is as close to an eye-witness view of them as we are likely to get'\u003cb\u003e Ronald Hutton, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Witch\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e*\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIf the witchfinders came to your town, who would you have believed – and what would you have done?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the 1640s, Britain was swept up in a brutal witch hunt. The economic uncertainty and religious extremism fuelled by the English Civil War created a climate of fear. Neighbours turned on each other. Women and the poor were especially vulnerable, scapegoated by the powerful looking for someone to blame. In the resulting hysteria – which would, just a few decades later, provide a handbook for the Salem trials – hundreds of innocent people were killed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMoving from village to village in Scotland and England, Professor Marion Gibson reveals how accusations grew out of everyday tensions – poverty, grief, and resentment – and how entire communities took part in persecuting the vulnerable. Drawing on newly uncovered historical records, this gripping account restores the voices of those accused of witchcraft. Vivid and intimate, \u003ci\u003eWitchland\u003c\/i\u003e shows that these were ordinary people with extraordinary stories, largely forgotten by history, caught up in suspicion and moral panic.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eWitchland\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e is a captivating story of fanaticism, inequality and the violence that surfaces during times of political upheaval.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e*\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e‘Witchland\u003c\/i\u003e gives witches back their names. History with its feet on the ground, harrowing in its wealth of ordinary details’ \u003cb\u003eRebecca Romney,\u003c\/b\u003e author of \u003ci\u003eJane Austen’s Bookshelf\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A remarkable feat of scholarship and empathy … a chilling and timely read!'\u003cb\u003e Shelley Puhak, author of\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e The Blood Countess and The Dark Queens\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster Audio","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":66564288086320,"sku":"BDu64u","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio CD","offer_id":66564288053552,"sku":"10u64u","price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/u64u-Square-cover.jpg?v=1784058293","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-u64u","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}